At Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night, all of the drivers competing for the regular season championship as well as a handful hoping to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were affected by a 17-car incident on lap 60 of the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
A number of drivers, including Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Christopher Bell, and John Hunter Nemechek, were involved in the backstretch incident.
Nevertheless, the only drivers eliminated were Elliott, Gragson, Hamlin, and Preece. LaJoie was ten laps down, and Bowman and Chastain were still going. The others all stayed in the lead lap.
Gragson stated, “I was behind the (No.) 1 (Chastain).” I gave him a few pushes, but he was just not able to withstand the pressure. Because he was so out of shape on his own, I didn’t feel comfortable pushing him because he was so squirrelly.
MASSIVE wreck at Daytona with former Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell going airborne in turns 1&2. #NASCAR#CokeZeroSugar400pic.twitter.com/hnq5G2QPG0
— TDT Media (@ThirdDownThurs) August 25, 2024
I was attempting to cross that intermediary line. that appeared like “some guys wanted to go, some guys didn’t, and it caused a little contact,” according to Hamlin.
“I didn’t think anyone was being too aggressive because everyone was saving gas,” Hamlin remarked. “But the first thing I noticed was that the (No.) 7 (LaJoie) got turned in front of me.”
The massive crash left Elliott with his first DNF this season.
Elliott remarked, “I was hoping nobody would hit me from behind and trying to slow down.” “Sadly, neither of those things came to pass.”
In the bout for the regular season title, Reddick had a 10-point lead over Elliott and a 22-point advantage over Larson going into the event. Chastain started the race one point ahead of the cutline among the drivers fighting for a postseason spot.
In the bout for the regular season title, Reddick had a 10-point lead over Elliott and a 22-point advantage over Larson going into the event. Chastain started the race one point ahead of the cutline among the drivers fighting for a postseason spot.
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